Experimental and numerical investigation of tsunami-like waves on horizontal circular cylinders

This work deals with an experimental and numerical study on the horizontal and vertical hydrodynamic forces induced by tsunami-like waves on horizontal cylinders. The laboratory investigation has been performed in the wave flume of the University of Calabria. Twelve pressure transducers have been mounted along the external contour of a cylinder, while four wave gauges have been located close to the cylinder and an ultrasonic sensor behind the paddle to measure its displacement. Tests have been carried out for Keulegan-Carpenter numbers, KC, ranging from about 4 to 7. By the numerical viewpoint, a diffusive weakly-compressible SPH model has been adopted. To prevent spurious flows near the cylindrical contour, a packing algorithm has been applied before SPH simulations. The acoustic components occurring in the numerical pressure field have been filtered through the application of Wavelet Transform. By using different calibration methods, experimental and SPH forces and kinematics at the cylinder have been used to calculate the hydrodynamic coefficients in the Morison and transverse semi-empirical equations for engineering purposes.